1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the preparation of novel surfactants and their utilization in producing cellular foam materials, particularly phenolic, isocyanurate and urethane foams. The surfactants can be prepared by reacting under free radical polymerization conditions a polyoxyalkylene adduct and an esterified unsaturated dibasic acid.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the manufacture of cellular polymeric materials to utilize small quantities of various cell stabilizing additives, such as silicones, in order to improve the foam's cell quality. While the silicone surface active agents contribute to the production of foamed products having a combination of desirable properties, silicone surfactants are relatively expensive materials.
Another highly effective cellular foam stabilizer of the prior art is the capped reaction product of an alkoxylated amine and a copolymerizable mixture of dialkyl maleate and N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone or N-vinyl caprolactam, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,842. However, this foam stabilizer is also relatively expensive and has been found to consist of a complex mixture whose components must be separated from each other to realize their particularly desirable cellular foam stabilizing properties.
It would accordingly be highly desirable to provide a novel surface active agent which would be relatively simple and inexpensive to produce and still have good foam stabilizing characteristics.